PoT: Mirror Writing: Ripple

[branchandroot]

Fic post from my archive.

Ripple

The day after the events of "Twist", Ryouma tries to sort out his thoughts. Drama With Slight Romance, I-3

Ryouma snorted a laugh. If he ever admitted to Momo that his protective streak made Ryouma feel better, he'd be doomed. Probably for life. Momo would never again believe Ryouma was serious when he grumbled or swatted Momo away.

Comments

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Really? I had a different interpretation of that: I thought it was a sign of solidarity between Ryouma and Kachirou's dad (you know, us against jerks.) Maybe because Ryouma seems to be so damn independent, I honestly never thought of him of looking for a father figure before. Hm...

However... I do sort of like Nanjirou, the way you are entertained by jerks with whom you aren’t related. I don’t think he’s one of the tricky/crazy ones in trying to play with Ryouma’s mind where tennis is concerned. He does seem to take tennis very seriously, and he does push Ryouma quite a bit where it is concerned. It’s just that he’s at a loss to stop Ryouma from imitating his style, and that—I think the manga states it somewhere—was why he felt that sending Ryouma to Seigaku was a good idea.

There’s another episode somewhere in the manga, I think where Seigaku was playing some other school (name escapes me), and Nanjirou turns up, meets one of their coaches, whom he used to know. They have a talk about their sons and tennis, and Nanjirou says something like, ‘I think we’ve been worrying too much about our kids.’ To me, that’s a sign that he does think about the best way to help Ryouma become better, and I sort of think better of him for it. Another episode shows Nanjirou in America, where he later decides to retire from tennis. Partly because he’s not interested in chasing after titles, and partly because he’s beginning to see Ryouma—then a mere toddler, really—as a future opponent that he could play with. He takes tennis and the development of his son quite seriously, and I like him for it.

That episode of Nanjirou in America is quite revealing--I think there's a scene where Konomi draws Nanjirou challenging the bullying coach, much the same way we have Ryouma challenging Kirihara. I think even the words they used were similar ("teach me how to play tennis"?) The parallels are interesting to think about.

Huh. What a long comment for me. This is what happens when you obssess about the manga for a whole year before watching the anime.

I adore this arc, by the way. Looking forward to more.

[branchandroot]

The anime certainly plays that day as an us-against-the-jerks thing, but I saw that particular gesture as such a father-son thing, in the manga, that it really struck me when Ryouma used it.

*thoughtful* It's not that I think Nanjirou is total scum. Nor that he's deliberately fucking with Ryouma's head. More that he's managing the effect despite not meaning it. And, while I could forgive that in an opponent, when it happens in a parent it makes me see red.

Midoriyama is the team whose coach also has his son in the lineup. That's actually one of the places that gets my hackles up again, for Nanjirou's remark that kids are there for parents to toy with. Again, I don't think he's entirely serious, but I don't think he's entirely joking, either.

*grins* Obssessing about the manga is a perfectly good thing. Glad you're liking this branch! More on the way.

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Midoriyama is the team whose coach also has his son in the lineup. That's actually one of the places that gets my hackles up again, for Nanjirou's remark that kids are there for parents to toy with. Again, I don't think he's entirely serious, but I don't think he's entirely joking, either.

Eh-huh. I knew it had to be Midori-something.

Maybe it's just because my social circle is weird--and the books I read--but plenty of people around me say that they'd like to have children to 'play with'. And these are some of the most serious, devoted parents I've ever met. So I guess I didn't think of that remark as a sign of anything negative, just some shoptalk between parents.